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Multifunctional Hybrid Metasurfaces for Dynamic Tuning of Terahertz Waves
Author(s) -
Cai Honglei,
Chen Shi,
Zou Chongwen,
Huang Qiuping,
Liu Yu,
Hu Xiang,
Fu Zhengping,
Zhao Yi,
He Hongchuan,
Lu Yalin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced optical materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.89
H-Index - 91
ISSN - 2195-1071
DOI - 10.1002/adom.201800257
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , materials science , ultrashort pulse , optoelectronics , figure of merit , resonator , femtosecond , photonics , modulation (music) , split ring resonator , excitation , optics , amplitude modulation , laser , frequency modulation , physics , radio frequency , computer science , telecommunications , quantum mechanics , acoustics
Abstract Actively tuning optical transmission through hybrid metasurfaces incorporated with multifunctional active media holds great promise for the next generation optical devices. In the terahertz (THz) range, they remain rare due to the lack of dynamic and multifunctional designs and materials. Here, a vanadium dioxide (VO 2 )‐based hybrid metasurface is proposed to present multifunctional control of THz waves via electrically triggering and ultrafast optical excitation. By minimizing the thermal mass of VO 2 and optimizing the VO 2 patterns within two side gaps of the asymmetric split‐ring resonators, a hybrid metasurface which can tune the THz wave with an absolute modulation depth up to 54% and a figure of merit as high as 138% is hereby presented. The hybrid metasurface achieves a switching time of 2.2 s under the electrically triggering and offers an ultrafast modulation within 30 ps under the femtosecond pulse excitation. More interestingly, owing to the intrinsic hysteresis behavior of VO 2 , the hybrid metasurface exhibits distinguishing multistate transmission amplitudes with a single electrical input. In short, this study paves the way for robust multifunctionality in electric‐controlled terahertz switching, photonic memory, and ultrafast terahertz optics.